Spectacular motoring highs from 2023 including Lambo Huracan, Rolls Royce Spectre & the EV that was our car of the year
CHRISTMAS would not be Christmas without: Daytime drinking.
Over-eating. Whamaggedon. The darts.
This paper filled with quizzes, predictions, celebrity obits and big picture-led reviews.
So, not to disappoint you, we’ve looked in the rear-view mirror to recap some of our favourite motoring stories from 2023.
Like the Polestar car showroom made entirely from SNOW.
It wasn’t open for long before it melted.
We revealed that Ford is to bring back the Capri — as an electric sports crossover.
But we’re not sure you’re gonna like it.
We took a Dutton Surf for a dip, joined Alpine’s F1 pit crew, put lipstick on the eyebrows of Volvo’s crash test dummies (to see exactly where they hit the airbags after a prang).
We helped to build the 1,500,000th van at Vauxhall’s Luton plant, gave the Audi TT a proper send-off on the Isle of Man and went skiing with Ferrari’s first SUV.
We also took Chinese F1 driver Zhou Guanyu home to Sheffield for a game of snooker
We’ve tried some truly spectacular cars over the past 12 months — vehicles powered by petrol, diesel, electric and hydrogen.
The Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato was an obvious highlight.
As was the Porsche 911 Dakar.
As was the Aston Martin DB12 and the McLaren 750S.
If ever a car suited a smooth, silent, non-smelly powertrain it’s the Rolls-Royce Spectre. The first electric Roller.
We also liked the Ferrari Roma Spider, Lotus Eletre and the £2million Bentley Batur.
And the BMW M2.
And the MG4 XPower, which is a bit more affordable.
The Renault 5 Turbo 3E will long live in the memory.
Classic Turbo 2 looks remixed with two electric motors, a glitch-art paint job and pink windows.
Only yours truly and Top Gear magazine got to play with that one-of-a-kind drift machine.
We also rode shotgun in Ken Block’s Audi Hoonitron at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
We liked the electric Volvo EX30 so much we made it The Sun Car of the Year.
The dinky Dacia Spring was crowned Value Car of the Year and Nissan’s X-Trail ePower is our Family Car of the Year.
The new Ford Transit Custom is next-level good. As is Kia’s EV9.
We didn’t try them until after The Sun Motor Awards in October — but both will win many prizes from glossy mags over the next 12 months.
The refreshed Vauxhall Corsa is good.
As is the Jeep Avenger, Toyota Corolla GR Sport, Ford Focus ST, Ford Ranger Raptor and the BMW iX5 Hydrogen.
The future has to be multi-fuel or it just won’t work.
We also liked the Mazda MX-30 REV, VW Golf and the Nissan Juke Hybrid.
The Abarth 500e was a bit of a turkey.
It’s got an external speaker under the rear axle to fake the sound of an exhaust. Honestly, it has.
We’ve chatted to CEOs, factory bosses and car designers about next-gen Minis, Vauxhalls, Fords, Kias, Nissans and more.
We featured Sir Jackie Stewart’s Race Against Dementia campaign to find a cure for the cruel disease.
And will continue to fight your corner on fuel duty, potholes and VAT on public charging.
All that’s left for me to say is: We hope you enjoy reading Sun Motors as much as we do creating it.
Merry Christmas.